Toomer's arsonist in custody; Auburn fans in disbelief

Fans gather at the oak tree at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, Ala., that was left a bit charred after being set on fire Saturday night after being rolled following Auburn's win over LSU. (Mickey Welsh / Montgomery Advertiser)
Mickey Welsh / Advertiser

'They killed our trees once, now they’re trying to kill them again.'

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Auburn city workers began to take wet-soaked toliet paper off the Toomer's Oak tree set ablaze around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning hours after Auburn's 18-13 win over No. 18 LSU.(Photo: Matthew Stevens/Advertiser)Buy Photo

AUBURN — First poison. Now arson. The oaks at Toomer’s Corner have again fallen victim to vandalism after an Auburn resident set one ablaze Sunday morning. The Auburn community is outraged.

By mid-Sunday afternoon, students, alumni and “die-hard” fans congregated in front of the charred tree to mourn in silence at the destruction. The unmistakable odor of burnt foliage and smoke settled over the corner of College Street and Magnolia Avenue.

“It’s like a funeral here. They killed our trees once, now they’re trying to kill them again. It’s going to be lucky if it lives,” said Auburn fan Teresa Haynes, referencing the poisoning of the oaks in 2010.

“It’s so sad that someone could be so destructive. It’s unreal.”

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Auburn fans react to Toomer Oak fire
Rebecca Burylo

Auburn resident Jochen Wiest, 29, was immediately taken into custody while still in the area on an unrelated public intoxication charge. He was later charged in connection to the Toomer’s oak trees fire said Capt. Lorenza Dorsey, a spokesperson with the Auburn city police department.

Auburn resident Jochen Wiest, 29, was immediately taken into custody while still in the area on an unrelated public intoxication charge. He was later charged in connection to the Toomer’s oak trees fire said Capt. Lorenza Dorsey, a spokesperson with the Auburn city police department.

Surveillance footage from a camera at the intersection showed a person, who reportedly was later identified by witnesses as Wiest, lighting on fire the toilet paper already on the tree and walking away.

On Sunday afternoon, maintenance crews continued to rake thousands of toilet paper fragments strewn over the area, evidence of how the night’s celebration of Auburn’s 18-13 win over LSU turned tragic. Rolling the Toomer’s Oak trees after a victory is a tradition Auburn fans hold dear.

Charred toilet rolls still hung in the topmost branches.

“It’s ridiculous. There’s no point (to the vandalism). It’s just a fun tradition that we have and I don’t understand why people are trying to ruin that for no reason,” said Timothy Howald, who was working at Pieology across the street when the oak was set on fire.

Auburn officials temporarily halted the tradition in 2013 as a result of the original oaks being poisoned by an Alabama fan in 2010. However, after a three-year hiatus, the tradition of covering the oak trees with toilet paper after Auburn wins restarted this season with the newly planted trees.

The oak tree set on fire early Sunday morning was one of two new large trees planted in 2015. The oak on Magnolia Avenue did not survive the move, so it was replaced a few months later. That oak on Magnolia did not appear to sustain any damage.

Howald was serving customers the night of the fire when everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to the windows. He looked out to see the tree enveloped in flames.

The Auburn Fire Department responded moments later, but not without the fire causing “significant damage” to the tree, said Gary Keever, professor of horticulture at Auburn.

Auburn Police arrested Jochen Wiest, age 29 from Auburn on a warrant charging him with Desecration of a venerable object. Wiest is being charged in connection with the Toomer's Oak trees being burned early Sunday morning.(Photo: Auburn City Police Department)

In August, Keever deemed the new trees healthy enough for the tradition of rolling the oak trees to restart. However, the trees were not completely established. A fire had been his worst fear.

“I just never would have guessed a fire would happen this soon,” said Keever, who was told about the fire from a student. He arrived at the scene Sunday morning to inspect the damage and stayed most of the afternoon.

Although the oak looked healthy for a tree that had just hours before been completely enveloped in flames, Keever said there is already signs of “significant damage” although the extent of damage may not be fully realized until spring.

“You can already see the top part of the canopy turning brown and all over there are signs of burned, brown, yellow and curled foliage. The tree will most likely lose all its foliage in the coming week,” Keever said.

The tree will not see new growth this late into the season, which will make it hard to tell if the tree lives or dies until signs of a new canopy of growth can be seen in April. None of the other trees in the area appeared to be damaged in the incident.

“Right now, it’s a waiting game,” Keever said.

Now the future of rolling is in question, said Keever, who has been in meetings with officials at Auburn University to discuss the future of the trees and the need for security.

Attempts to reach officials at Auburn University were unsuccessful.

Signs by Auburn fans were left Sunday morning that hoped the tree would remain in its spot on the corner of College Street and Magnolia Avenue.

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Auburn city workers taking down the toliet paper off a Toomer's oak tree that set ablaze early Sunday morning.
Matthew Stevens